Colombia is reeling from the strongest earthquake to strike the country in decades after a 7.4 magnitude quake tore through the western part of the nation on Monday, August 10, killing at least 132 people and injuring 570 others, according to the Colombian Association of Capital Cities. President Abelardo De La Espriella, who was sworn into office only days earlier, declared a national state of emergency as the disaster became the first major crisis of his young administration.
The quake struck at 7:34 a.m. local time, with its epicentre near San Jose Del Palmar, a small community of roughly 4,800 to 5,000 people in the Choco region, about 150 to 250 miles west of the capital, Bogota. Colombia’s Geological Service described it as the most powerful earthquake recorded in the country in the last decade, and said it was followed by aftershocks measuring 2.8 and 4.8 in magnitude.
Worst Hit Regions
The heaviest casualties were reported in the western province of Risaralda, home to the city of Pereira, where officials confirmed at least 40 to 42 deaths. The neighbouring Valle del Cauca department, where the country’s third-largest city, Cali, is located, reported at least 27 fatalities, with buildings collapsing and residents digging through rubble by hand in the hours after the quake. Two more deaths were reported in Manizales, where the city’s historic cathedral also sustained visible damage.
In Cali, rescue workers pulled survivors from the wreckage of collapsed structures through the day, while in Pereira a seven-story building at Plaza Bolivar crumbled entirely. Among the most alarming losses were the pediatric and neonatal wards of a hospital in Cali, which collapsed during the quake, complicating rescue and treatment efforts for the most vulnerable patients.
Tremors were felt as far away as Bogota, prompting evacuations in the capital, and the shaking was reportedly noticeable across parts of Ecuador and Panama as well. Authorities suspended flights at several regional airports, including those serving Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura, as ground crews assessed runway and structural safety.
Government Response
Addressing the nation around 1 p.m. local time, President De La Espriella confirmed the death toll and formally declared the national emergency. He said the government had mobilised all available resources to protect lives and support affected communities, and that the immediate priority was rescuing people still trapped beneath collapsed buildings. Soldiers were deployed to the disaster zones alongside emergency responders, and the president later travelled to Quibdo, the capital of Choco department, to oversee relief operations firsthand.
Residents described the terror of living through the quake. One man told local media that his entire house shook violently, adding that he had never experienced a tremor of that intensity before.
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A Region Still Recovering From Venezuela’s Quakes
The disaster comes just weeks after neighbouring Venezuela was struck by two back-to-back earthquakes in late June that destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed more than 5,000 people. That devastation had already left the wider Andean region on edge, and Monday’s earthquake in Colombia has reopened those wounds, with families in both countries now searching rubble for missing loved ones at the same time.
For Colombia, the earthquake represents the deadliest natural disaster the country has faced this century, testing a government that had been in office for barely a week before the crisis began. With injury and death tolls still being updated by regional authorities and rescue operations ongoing in Risaralda, Valle del Cauca and Choco, officials have cautioned that the final numbers are likely to rise as more areas are reached and more bodies are recovered from the debris.
International aid offers are expected in the coming days as Colombia works to stabilise damaged hospitals, restore transportation links and provide shelter to the thousands of families displaced from homes damaged or destroyed by the quake.
Summary: A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on August 10, 2026, killing at least 132 people and injuring 570 others. President Abelardo De La Espriella declared a national emergency as rescue teams searched collapsed buildings across Risaralda, Valle del Cauca and Choco.
